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Tennessee Elected Officials – is it the Tenth or TIRRC For You?

TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition’s political arm called TIRRC VOTES, has SIX paid lobbyists. TIRRC itself has 14 on staff, Soros money and is running multiple email disinformation campaigns on refugee resettlement, targeting state legislators, local county commissioners and any other locally elected official.

At it’s core, TIRRC’s agenda aligns with that of the New American Economy (NAE, formerly named the Partnership for a New American Economy) outfit, along with the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity (AFP), two big dollar organizations mobilized to push more legal and illegal immigrants into communities. Like TIRRC, NAE and AFP are pushing back on key Trump immigration policies intended to help American citizens prosper.

NAE, AFP and TIRRC like to push the false economic-enhancing narrative of legal immigrants like refugees and illegal aliens. TIRRC also thinks name-calling like xenophobe, racist and hater, is an effective tool to silence anyone who disagrees with their agenda.

While TIRRC’s coalition member the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) parades refugees turned Tennesseans, NAE puts out reports claiming that after living in the U.S. between 16-25 years, refugees are earn “well above the income of refugees who have been here for five years or less.” They also claim that refugees are the answer to reviving aging and declining communities.

TIRRC parrots these same points trying to deflect from the Tennessee issues. With regard to the federal refugee program, Tennessee legislators and advocates have raised the core Constitutional issue of federalism on the one hand, and the role of the state’s legislature to appropriate public money, on the other.

On these important state issues, it appears that Governor Lee has aligned himself lock, stock and barrel with TIRRC as opposed to advocating for the state’s Tenth Amendment rights and Tennessee’s Constitutional powers and duties.

Sadly, too many Tennessee’s county mayors regarding county level decisions on refugee resettlement, are following the governor’s abdication of educated leadership.

Before the President’s Executive Order on refugee resettlement was enjoined (but watch it be upheld in the end), Governor Lee, playing kind for a day, decided that he would issue a decree of YES for the whole state to take refugees and that all the counties in his land would have to defer to his decision.

Recently, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, showing fear of disagreeing with the king, said:

“It may be appropriate to wait at least one month to see what the legislature would do,” Ogles said. “We have to do the right thing for the right reasons for the people of this county. That being said, we do have a governor whose help we are going to need if we do want a new agriculture center. I don’t want to unnecessarily slap him in the face when the legislature is going to take action and basically nip this in the bud.”

Andy Ogles, Maury County Mayor, former TN AFP state director

Sounds like Ogles thinks the governor is vindictive. Ogles also forgets that the President’s EO asked the county level executive to make a decision even if Governor Lee chose not to follow the President’s instructions.

It’s not known whether Tennessee state House member Brandon Ogles is related to the Maury County mayor, but if the fact that Brandon Ogles hasn’t signed onto his colleague’s bill, HB1929, is any indication, the Ogles’ politics may unfortunately, be aligned.

State Rep. Brandon Ogles and TN AFP director Tori Venable

Remember, that Andy Ogles was the Tennessee state director for Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a Koch brothers enterprise. Tori Venable, former staffer to pot advocate Rep. Jeremy Faison, is the current Tennessee AFP state director. Venable’s op-ed “

Willing to do anything for a paycheck, Venable and the leader of LIBRE, the Koch’s “premier pro-mass immigration organization,” co-wrote an oped titled, “Common ground is possible even when it comes to immigration.”

And they chose to focus on Nashville “because it’s a hub for tourism, commerce and innovation.”

Never mind that Nashville is also a hub for illegal alien workers, high refugee resettlement numbers, the headquarters of pretty much every radical anti-American government organization (like TIRRC), a chamber of commerce that will do just about anything for a buck, and a city council that will go to any length to protect illegal alien criminals from deportation.

The Koch brothers’ AFP is pro-mass immigration, legal and illegal, pushing amnesty for illegal aliens, “and endless free trade, and oppose the GOP voter-preferred economic nationalist agenda of less immigration and tariffs to protect American jobs.”

And they completely disagree with the President’s approach to the refugee resettlement issues. “The LIBRE Initiative, the Koch’s premier pro-mass immigration organization, says the reduction of refugees to the U.S. is “not warranted” in a statement supporting the Senators’ call for as much refugee resettlement as possible.”

Sounds like the Koch immigration industrial complex is 100% aligned with TIRRC’s agenda even if AFP didn’t actively work against the Tennessee anti-sanctuary city bill which TIRRC of course, vehemently opposed. Remember, the anti-sanctuary city bill was written to keep illegal aliens who were arrested and in jail for committing local crimes, from being released back into local communities.

TIRRC is opposed to anything that even potentially puts an illegal alien into deportation proceedings because TIRRC doesn’t believe that everyone should have to follow the law.

TIRRC uses legal immigrants like refugees to shield their advocacy for illegal aliens – all of which is intended to take a red state like Tennessee and slowly over time, create purplish-blue pockets. TIRRC well understands that refugees can become voters just five years after their arrival.

Take for example, Nashville’s Kurdish refugee agitators who were first trained by, worked for TIRRC and eventually became citizens. Same with a number of Somali refugee agitators. These former refugees are aggressive political agitators pushing TIRRC’s radical agenda for legal immigrants and illegal aliens and every other “intersectional” issue they can find.

They want political power however they can get it. They want the whole state of Tennessee to be just like Davidson and Shelby counties.

A 2018 study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research on The Political Impact of Immigration: Evidence from the United States, pretty much affirms TIRRC’s radical agenda for Tennessee. That’s why TIRRC focuses on immigrants becoming voters and a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens like the “DREAMERS” and constantly pushes the “we vote” narrative.

Groups like TIRRC, NAE and AFP use the false economic narrative to lure greedy, small vision elected officials and local chambers of commerce, to an immigration agenda which will ultimately hurt the American worker and upend core Constitutional principles.

But as AFP says, it’s all about “common ground” which for them is defined by money. Hopefully Tennessee’s elected officials understand what the money-grubbers don’t – abandoning Constitutional principles will in the end, make all that money, irrelevant.

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TN County Commissioners, Meet The Groups You Are Meeting With.

 

For Tennessee county commissioners and mayors, making a decision regarding resettling refugees in their districts has turned into a more difficult one thanks to the  misleading information being given to them by leftist, progressive organizations. It should not matter if they are Democrats or Republicans, this is a matter of state sovereignty and the cost of a federal program being forced on their residents. Groups such as the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, (TIRRC), Catholic Charities, and Indivisible, are spreading false, emotional information rather than facts. Did it ever occur to the county commissioners and mayors, these organizations all have the same end goal of open borders and a drastic demographic change that will eventually replace conservatives in office?  

Has it also ever occurred to the county commissioners organization representatives, like Holly Johnson, who has been busy visiting their offices, have a stake in this game as she makes money for every refugee CC resettles?  As you can see from a 2017 tax form, Catholic Charities is a multi million dollar organization whose executive officers make over $115,000 per year. 

 

So much for their argument it’s all about saving refugees. It’s all about the money.

Then there is the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coaltion (TIRRC). While they are not quite as wealthy, co executive director Stephanie Teatro makes over $60,000 as of 2017. TIRRC is all about open borders and abolishing ICE, the law enforcement agency responsible for arresting and deporting those here illegally. TIRRC , for the last several years has been the recipient of a grant from well known radical philanthropist George Soros, whose goal is to destroy America as we know it. 

 

Another group, whose goal isn’t about money, but rather resisting and defeating President Trump, and all those who implement his agenda is Indivisible. Indivisible is a grassroots group morphed out of former President Barack Obama’s Organizing for Action (OFA). While there are hundreds of organizations campaigning to defeat the President, Indivisible’s sole mission is to do it all costs. Training thousands of disgruntled people across the country how to use the late Saul Alinsky tactics to smear those who disagree with your views. One example of their methods being successful occurred in Greene County TN, where self proclaimed Indivisible member Lena Kendrick Dean stood before a crowded county commission meeting to chastise those who had urged the commission to reject refugees coming into their county. Using abhorrent, xenophobic, and unethical as words to describe those who do not want the financial burden of paying for a federal program, Dean used the emotional debate, which resulted in a consent to accept.  What is disturbing about Ms Dean and her beliefs, is she is a member of the Greene County Election Commission, whose duties are:

The question here is can Ms. Dean, who belongs to Indivisible, whose sole existence is to resist and defeat the current president at all costs, be trusted by her community to secure the “purity of the ballot”? While she claims everyone knows she belongs to this group, do they know what Indivisible stands for? My guess is they do not. 

These are the groups and individuals meeting with Tennessee County Commissioners, and attending meetings. These are the agendas of those claiming it is all about saving those in need, when in reality it is nothing more than their desire to fundamentally alter the demographics and foundation of our country, starting with towns and cities, all while making money.

 

 

 

 

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More Than Just a Bad Appointment By Bill Hagerty!

In Senate candidate Bill Hagerty’s recent article in the Times of Israel he speaks out against anti-Semitism, specifically citing the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions campaign (BDS) against Israel. Hagerty wants the U.S. to be a reliable ally for Israel. No doubt Israelis appreciate that sentiment and most in Tennessee likely share it as well. But Hagerty’s talk is campaign convenient, especially when his past walk seemed oblivious to any such concerns.

 

Hagerty wants conservative voters to forget that in 2012, he hired Shariah compliant finance (SCF) expert Samar Ali to serve as Asst. Commissioner for International Affairs in the Department of Economic & Community Development. Samar’s appointment set off a firestorm in conservative Republican circles. At a First Tuesday event in Nashville, Hagerty offered his personal and strongly worded defense for hiring Samar which was reported by Rod Williams (who was in attendance) in his blog A Disgruntled Republican –  which is excerpted below.
Williams noted that Hagerty “spoke with passion.” 

“The lady’s name is Samar Ali. She is a Tennessee native and yes, she is a Muslim. Her father was past President of the Tennessee Medical Association and a Colonel in the Tennessee National Guard. Ms Ali grew up in Waverly Tennessee and attended public schools and is all American girl. She has tremendous credentials, and we are fortunate to have her in our office. She is a former White House fellow and she was an associate with the prestigious law firm Hogan Lovells where she worked on counseling clients on mergers and acquisitions, project finance, and international business matters. During her time with Hogan Lovells, she was a founding member of the firm’s Abu Dhabi office. While in Abu Dhabi, she put together Sharia compliant finance projects. Hagerty continued:

“Big law firms and accounting firms, do that sort of thing all the time. Any firms that do a lot of international transactions has someone who can do Sharia compliant finance (SCF). There is nothing sinister about that. If I was going to do business in Louisiana, I would have to do business according to the Napoleonic code. When I came back to Tennessee, I would not follow that code to do business.When it was known we were looking to fill a position in our office, I got a call from her father* asking me if I would look at her resume. Like any father, he would like for his daughter to move closer to home. I interviewed her for the job, and she was the best qualified.”

“When all of this uproar, started, she came to me in tears and offered to resign. I told her I would not let her resign. We cannot give in to bigotry. (Maybe Mr. Hagerty did not use the word “bigotry” but that was the essence of his comment. He may have said “ignorance” or something else.)Ms Ali was not hired due to her expertise in Sharia compliant finance and I do not anticipate there would be occasions where she would use those skills.”

Amr El Husseini & wife Samar Ali

So Hagerty admitted he was well aware of her background in Sharia finance. Her bio from her position at Hogan Lovells before Hagerty’s hiring her noted that she had interned for the Islamic International Arab Bank (Arab Bank)in Amman Jordan in 2007. This was during the time that a lawsuit had been filed against the bank alleging that the bank was managing the funding of payments to the families of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) martyrs and also providing services to Hamas and others.

From 1995 to 2005 thousands in Israel, including American citizens, were killed by these terrorists! Beginning in 2004 approximately 500 US citizens sued the bank under the US Anti-Terrorism Act. The lawsuit filed by the family of Texan John Linde who was murdered in a 2003 Gaza car bombing, was the first terror financing case to go to trial.

In September 2014, a federal jury found Arab Bank liable for knowingly supporting terrorism efforts connected to two dozen attacks in the Middle East. This was the first time a bank has ever been held liable in a civil suit under a broad anti-terrorism statute.
One year later, the Arab Bank settled the claims of the 500 plaintiffs. 

What kind of All American girl interns in a bank with a reputation like that? Anybody believe she was unaware of the bank’s history?

Yet Hagerty defended her and said we were fortunate to have her! He wouldn’t take her resignation and said “we can’t give in!”
If Hagerty wants voters to trust his judgment as a U.S. Senator, how does he explain either his poor vetting of Samar’s connections or his defense of them? How does Hagerty explain ignorance about the abundance of publicly available information about Samar’s connections?
In June of 2010 PJ Media reported  extensively about Samar Ali. He had advised a Middle Eastern university about “the potential of establishment of a Foreign Aid Conventional and Shari’ah Compliant Student Loan Program.” An Obama’s White House press release stated that she “is a founding member of the first U.S. Delegation to the World Islamic Economic Forum.”

At the time, the foundation that runs this Forum included Saleh Abdullah Kamel on their International Advisory Panel. This is the same Kamel mentioned on the “Golden Chain” roster as an un-indicted co-conspirator in helping Osama bin Laden funnel money for the 9/11 attacks.

After defending Samar, Hagerty went on to defend Shariah finance, going so far as to trivialize it by comparing it to the Napoleonic code! “Any firms that do a lot of international transactions has someone who can do Sharia compliant finance (SCF). There is nothing sinister about that.”

But exactly what is this sharia compliant finance (SCF) that Bill Hagerty has endorsed as a legitimate business practice?
The following overview of SCF is from a 2011 Breitbart article which includes additional references.

In the 1940’s prominent Islamic figure, Maulana Abul Ala Mawdudi, saw the cultural and political Westernizations of Islam as a loss of religious and national identity to the Muslim World. To offset this perceived threat Mawdudi, along with others, pushed for a separate ideology, separate politics, and separate economics for Muslims. The result was to create a financial investment transactional status referred as being “authorized” or “pure” (halal) and in accordance to Islamic or Sharia Law. “Impure” transactions were ones which involved money from investments in the pork and alcohol-beverage industries, pornography, gambling, interest-based financing and Western defense.
This concept is explained further in a 2008 McCormick Foundation& the Center for Security Policy report called, “Shariah, Law and ‘Financial Jihad’: How Should America Respond?“

The bottom line is that Shariah authorities decide where the money goes and shariah law requires donations to jihadists!

The well-known suicide-bombing advocate, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, considered the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, said sharia finance was nothing less than “Jihad with money.” As al-Qaradawi explains, “God has ordered us to fight enemies with our lives and with our money.” Qaradawi is banned from entering the US and the UK because of his ties to terrorist organizations.

It is interesting that al-Qaradawi worked at the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) as the chairman of the Sharia supervisory board while Samar Ali’s husband Amr El-Husseini worked there as well including in senior positions! El-Husseini is also an expert in SCF! For more on El-Husseini, Qaradawi and the shady history of the QIB go here

And here is a new claim against QIB by an American journalist about a terrorist act involving QIB during Amr El-Husseini’s tenure. 

So here’s what all this information tells us about U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty:
• He knowingly hired an expert in SCF who worked at an Islamic Bank in the Middle East
• the bank had a reputation for funding Islamic terrorism and was in fact involved in a lawsuit involving the killing of Americans and Israeli’s even before her internship began
• he defended SCF and said there is nothing sinister about it
• Hagerty makes his money in private equity investing

A legitimate question for a financier is whether he thinks it’s okay for the international business community to participate in a practice designed in part to fund Islamic terrorism worldwide?

Bill Hagerty likes to remind everybody that he is the only candidate in this race that is endorsed by President Trump. True, but Hagerty is also the only candidate in this race that has supported sharia compliant finance. That is an endorsement that should be a deal breaker for every Tennessean!

This is more than a bad hire – it shows questionable judgment and forewarns us of questionable actions should Hagerty be elected to the U.S. Senate.

* For more on Samar’s dear old dad and BDS read  here

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County Commissioner More Afraid of ‘State Officials’ Than Voters on Refugee Consent Issue?

For the less fearful Commissioners, they should know that they are being given misleading information on the refugee resettlement issue.

With regard to the issue of refugee resettlement, it would seem that county commissioners would be guided by the voters who put them into office.

Not so at the recent Coffee County Commission meeting where the commissioners voted to table until the February meeting, a resolution that says they want to stay out of the refugee resettlement program.

Looking for any excuse not to act, Commissioner Helen Debellis who wanted a motion to postpone considering the resolution also said that, “she doesn’t want to make state officials mad with the resolution without making sure they have all their facts together. ‘I don’t want to make the hand that feeds me mad,’” said Debellis.

What’s Debillis so afraid of? Denial of construction permits? A vindictive Governor?

What Debellis should be more concerned about is not listening to voters and supporting her state legislators. Rep. Rush Bricken has signed both the resolution which supports the state’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit challenging the federal refugee resettlement program, and Rep. Ron Gant’s bill, HB1929, which addresses the unConstitutional action of the federal government transferring the costs of it’s program to the state without an appropriation by the General Assembly.

Both these legislative actions make it clear that neither the federal government, nor any branch of the state government (ie, the executive branch), have the Constitutional authority to bypass the General Assembly when spending public money.

As an aside, it seems the Governor may have stepped into a similar problem with his school voucher program.

The Coffee County Commissioners were also likely misled by information provided by both the TN County Services Association (TCSA) and Holly Johnson, the State Refugee Coordinator who works for Catholic Charities of Tennessee (CCTN).

David Connor, Director of the TCSA has circulated a letter to county commissioners “advising” them about President Trump’s Executive Order 1388 which asked governors and local counties to weigh in on whether to accept refugees who are brought to their counties by federal contractors like the CCTN.

“The TCSA report said if the county was not contacted by a specific agency to accept refugees then there is nothing the county needs to do. Under the executive order, the county can only opt-in or consent into receiving refugees.”

The TCSA letter sent to county commissions also tried to tie refugee resettlement to the four urban counties – “[t]his has primarily been an issue affecting the four largest urban counties.” (Be sure to compare the info here with the TCSA version).

Holly Johnson pretty much walks in lock-step with the TCSA.

What neither the TCSA nor Johnson bothered to tell them is that the FY2020 Funding Notice is part of the package of federal documents which must be read alongside the President’s Executive Order because as the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement has directed, the Funding Notice “operationalizes” the Executive Order.

The Funding Notice which funnels taxpayer money to the federal resettlement contractors that Johnson advocates for, says that refugees can be placed between 50 – 100 miles away from the resettlement agency’s office.

And that’s been happening in Tennessee for quite some time and regardless of what Johnson says, there is no rule that requires the resettlement agency to get the county’s consent because the federal government says they can do it!

Actual arrival data reported by TOR shows that during the October 2014 – 2019 time period, federal contractors have placed refugees outside of the four urban areas including in the following counties: Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Williamson, Roane, Sumner, Wilson, Fayette, Bedford, Anderson, Bradley, Coffee and Washington.

Then there’s the case of Rutherford County where no resettlement agency is located but which has been used as an initial resettlement site at least since 2012.

And Holly Johnson who is almost always moved to tears when she talks about her cash cow refugee program, didn’t seem terribly concerned about the refugees dumped in Rutherford County motel room by federal contractor World Relief which then closed its Nashville office. Johnson indicated that “ensuring whether refugee contractor World Relief provided food and clothing to the refugees it resettled, was not her responsibility.”

Despite shafting these refugees, World Relief continues to operate in Memphis, where Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris (former state Senator), held a ceremonial letter signing including World Relief’s director, consenting to continued refugee resettlement.

Mayor Lee Harris seated with World Relief director to his right, Holly Johnson standing in back clapping

Mayor Harris, along with the mayors from Knox and Davidson counties sit on the TCSA board. These are the three largest counties where federal refugee profiteers make their money.

These three counties also house mini-me TIRRCs – Centro Hispano in Knoxville supported in part with money from Pilot and La Raza Randy Boyd’s PetSafe.

TIRRC and Conexion Americas in Nashville, and Latino Memphis in Shelby County.

These organizations use refugees to help shield their advocacy for illegal aliens like opposing the anti-sanctuary city bill so that illegal aliens who commit crimes return to the community as opposed to being deported.

These organizations are being joined by groups like Indivisible in Greene County.

President Trump’s Executive Order was perfectly clear that county governments had a say along with a state’s governor.

Regardless, the arrogant Bill Lee declared otherwise – he said that counties would have to defer to him.

Bill Lee believes he has consented for the whole state and can force feed refugees into any county he chooses. So counties would be wise to formally object if they disagree with the Governor. In the end silence may equate to acceptance. The EO, the Funding Notice, the State Department Report to Congress and even the Department of Justice response to the VOLAG lawsuit trying to enjoin the EO, repeatedly say that they really want to just try and put refugees in communities that want to support them.

So Commissioners, maybe that’s why you need to say whether or not you want refugees to be resettled in your county.

 

 

 

 

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State Legislators Offer Biblical Bill a Way Out of the Mess He Created

Unfortunatley, Lee’s self-righteous arrogance is dominating. He was quoted this week saying that he’s sticking to his decision to bring refugees to Tennessee and have the state pay for them.

It’s the same self-righteous arrogance that had him proclaiming for all to hear that the counties have to defer to his decision in the matter. As much as he likes to claim that he’s supporting President Trump on the refugee program, Lee didn’t even bother to follow the President’s Executive Order about county governments having a say.

What the kool-aid drinking Governor Lee is following though, are the talking points from the federal resettlement profiteers who like to say that the federal government pays 100% of the cost for refugee resettlement.

How then does Biblical Bill explain the federal reports and US Senators admitting that the costs of the federal program have been involuntarily transferred to state and local governments?

Certain other issues aside, Lee has managed to flip off the conservative base so he can stand with the radical left groups like TIRRC and AMAC who always resort to name-calling and emotional arguments when, as is typically the case, the facts don’t support their position.

President Trump offered states a somewhat orderly decision-making process to decide about allocating costs and human capital related to the FEDERAL refugee resettlement program. Not only did Lee NOT FOLLOW the prescribed process, but he managed to create deep divisions within his own party.

Happy day for the ever so smug lefties.

But some Tennessee legislators who actually understand which branch of the state government has the Constitutional power and duty to appropriate public money, have offered Lee a way out of the mess he has created.

Rep. Ron Gant has a bill that basically tracks what the legislature did on the Medicaid expansion issue a few years ago.

Towards the beginning of his second term, Haslam, (at best, a left of center Republican), kept trying to figure out how to sign onto Obama’s Medicaid expansion plan. So he came up with his own Medicaid expansion plan and called it “Insure Tennessee.” But the General Assembly understood that Haslam’s plan was going to require boo-coos of state dollars which could only be approved by the legislature.

So the House and Senate passed a bill, opposed by all Democrats, requiring the governor to get the consent of the legislature before he obligated the state to a federal program requiring the expenditure of state dollars.

Predictably, the only Republican to vote against this was Sen. Steve Dickerson a self-described “different kind of Republican” – as in a Democrat who decided to run as a Republican. Dickerson was also the only Republican senator to vote against the state’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit challenging the refugee program’s cost shifting. That same year, Bill Lee donated $1,000 to Dickerson’s re-election campaign.

As an aside, Dickerson is named in a federal and state lawsuit “ being accused of submitting more than 750 false claims, nearly $6.5M in fraud” to Medicare and Medicaid.

If you compare Gant’s bill and the 2014 bill signed into law by Haslam, you’d see that Rep. Gant and the 51 co-sponsors (hopefully there will be more), are doing what is Constitutionally legitimate and appropriate with regard to yet another federal spending program.

If the Governor had any political and common sense, he’d put more ink in his bill signing pen and let the legislators know that he’d sign this bill if it makes it to his desk.

Contact Rep. Gant’s office and let him know how much you appreciate his leadership on this issue rep.ron.gant@capitol.tn.gov or call 615-741-6890

Call the Governor and tell him to start working with the legislators and not against them and the voters who gave him the privilege of serving them – 741-2001 or email him https://www.tn.gov/governor/contact-us.html

If your legislator is not signed onto Gant’s bill, ask them to sign on. If they have signed on, contact them, thank them and tell them to push forward.

A related item is Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver’s resolution HJR741 in support of Tennessee’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit. See if your legislator is listed and if not – get them to sign on. This is critically important since the slick-tongued Bill Lee has said he supports the lawsuit but then undermines it by consenting to bringing in more refugees.

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Tennesseans County Commissions Beware!

It would have only taken one word. No. However, Gov Bill Lee has decided to kick Tennesseans to the curb as his decision to accept refugees continues to cause divisiveness and anger in every single county. Because of his sole decision, the state of Tennessee will be financially burdened by being forced to pay for what used to be a federally funded program. 

In Sept of 2019, President Trump issued an executive order which gave states the option to reject refugees, while also giving its localities (counties) a voice to decide if they too chose to not accept them. In December of 2019, a resolution was prepared which circulated to counties who then began to add the issue to their commission meetings. Those counties with conservative, level headed commissions made the choice to reject refugees, but the word quickly spread to social justice groups, and now they have sprung into full action.

So what can conservative county commissioners and their constituents expect? Being labeled and chastised. Leftist, progressive organizations are sending letters and attending meetings to shame, and use emotions to muddy the issue. Below is an excerpt of a letter sent to the Wilson County TN County Commission, written by a member of another radical group, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Judith Clerjeune

 So who are these groups, and what can be done?

  Meet Indivisible, which has several chapters across Tennessee. Indivisible was formed after the election of President Donald Trump,  in partnership with Barack Obama’s “Organizing for Action” which  trains leftist organizers in the radical street tactics popularized by the late Saul Alinsky; these organizers then pass along their knowledge to many additional people—especially young people—in communities from coast to coast.  

Indivisible’s mission is clearly posted on their website which states:

Indivisible TN chapters build on the progressive message by offering ways to defeat Trump through the Indivisible Guide. Which also includes scripts on how to speak with Congressman. It also emphasizes how important it is to agree on “values of inclusion, tolerance, and fairness” which includes open borders, abolishment of ICE, supporting the transgender movement and of course illegal immigration and the acceptance of refugees, regardless of the financial burden on states. More recently,and  most importantly is to see that President Trump is impeached and removed from office, or defeated at all costs in Nov of 2020. 

In Greene County TN, in typical Indivisible fashion, Lena Kendrick Dean, who introduced herself at a county commission meeting, as being from Indivisible, chastised comments made prior to her regarding the rejection of refugees, by calling them “abhorrent, xenophobic, and unethical”, further stating we have a “moral and ethical obligation” to accept them. One very important thing residents of Greene County should know, is Lena Kendrick Dean also serves on the Greene County Election Commission. One should be questioning her ability to be fair and unbiased with her duties as an election commissioner seeing that she supports and is a member of the Indivisible movement, whose goal is to resist and remove the current President of the United States. Can she be trusted to oversee elections or assist  conservative voters needs as they prepare to pick the next president? 

, ,

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, we are also entitled to expect our elected officials do not belong to radical, anti-American organizations hell bent on instituting their beliefs. Millions of Americans did not agree with or support former president Barack Obama, but did not engage in movements to destroy him, or his supporters. We made our voice known by voting. 

County Commissions throughout Tennessee should be aware Indivisible, TIRRC and Bridge Refugee Service members are planning on doing the same to you. Do not be lulled into the emotional argument, follow the facts. 

Coming up next, who is the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)

 

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More Counties Should Pay Attention to Data on Refugee Resettlement in Tennessee

How can it be that organizations which should be providing unbiased and straight-forward information to county governments are instead trying to carry water for the Governor?

Here’s what one of those organizations is circulating with regard to the issues around the Governor’s consent to continue refugee resettlement:

“Which counties are affected?

This has primarily been an issue affecting the four largest urban counties. According to a report from the Department of State, 5610 individuals were resettled in Tennessee during the five year period from October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2019. The vast majority of those individuals were resettled in Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton Counties. For example, during the quarterly period from July 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019, a total of 221 individuals were resettled in Tennessee. Of that number 210 were placed in one of those four counties.”

Anyone else wondering if the source of this info trying mighty hard to minimize the backlash from the Governor’s decision might just be coming from the Governor’s office? Hmmm.

Actual arrival numbers reported by the Catholic Charities’ Tennessee Office for Refugees (TOR) chosen by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to administer the program after Bredesen withdrew the state, for the five years starting in October 1, 2014, shows 7,688 arrivals.

FY2019 had a total of 692 arrivals in Tennessee and during the last quarter refugees were also placed in Rutherford, Bradley and Washington counties.

It’s important to remember that refugee arrivals are cumulative, building on prior year arrivals. Add to that secondary migration numbers and that’s how the little acorns grow into big oaks. How else did Nashville end up with the largest Sunni Muslim Kurdish community in the U.S. which by their own count put their numbers at approximately 15,000.

And suggesting that refugee resettlement “has primarily been an issue affecting the four largest urban counties” ignores all the facts laid out in Tennessee’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit. How about the fact that all Tennessee taxpayers pay for the public school services refugee students receive, and that all Tennessee taxpayers ultimately pay the costs for the refugee program which the federal government decided they weren’t going to pay anymore. As stated in Tennessee’s lawsuit: 

        1. Federal funds initially supported the federal government’s refugee resettlement program, but eventually federal reimbursements to the states were reduced and, by 1991, eliminated entirely. States thereby became responsible for costs of the program.
        2. Reports to Congress from the United States Government Accountability Office and ORR have acknowledged that costs of the federal refugee resettlement program have been transferred from the federal government to the states.

Actual arrival data reported by TOR shows that during the October 2014 – 2019 time period, federal contractors have placed refugees outside of the four urban areas including in the following counties:

Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Williamson, Roane, Sumner, Wilson, Fayette, Bedford, Anderson, Bradley, Coffee and Washington.

Even though Rutherford County does not have a resettlement agency located in the county, the county has been used as an initial resettlement site at least since 2012.

Facts can be oh so very stubborn.

50-100 miles covers almost the whole state
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All Signs Point to Bill Lee Planning for Refugee Resettlement in Tennessee

Biblical Bill is planning to put Tennessee actively into the federal program and have the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement approve his plan. That’s why this NON-transparent Governor made his consent for refugee resettlement “valid for one year” and that’s why his administration’s minions won’t give a straight answer when asked about it.

First there was the picture and information about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spending the weekend with the Governor and his wife working on refugee issues. Not long after this, one of his advisers disclosed that “classified and confidential” information is involved.

What’s not clear in the timeline is whether Pompeo’s visit came before or after Lee’s pastor was in D.C. talking up Bill’s plan. (rumor has it that the pastor has been spending quite a bit of time in D.C.).

There is speculation that Lee’s plan lets him wear two hats – one as the state’s chief executive and the other as the state’s chief evangelist showing deplorables that he can live his faith using the state government and his Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Lee’s plan is likely to model itself after the system worked out in Texas between the federal refugee contractors and individual members of religious congregations. Remember, Lee has talked in terms of what he and his wife have done for refugees through their church.

But since there is nothing in federal law which mandates that states resettle refugees, it’s reasonable to ask the Governor why he is demanding that all Tennessee counties prepare to receive refugees.

Is the Governor even aware that Wyoming has no history of bending its knee and state budget to the federal refugee program? Has he wondered at all why the federal government hasn’t forced that state to take refugees?

Every time one of Lee’s folks – appointed, self-appointed, or his hired office staff – talk about how under the Governor’s plan the number of refugees would be about 350 – 400, what they are really saying is that they have no idea how this program actually works.

It’s true that Trump’s 18,000 refugees divided by 50 (as in states), is about 360 per state. Except that’s not how refugees get placed – just read the relevant government documents. Then there’s the matter of the 10,000 other category of refugee-like entrants called SIVs that Lee hasn’t bothered to mention. This is the kissing cousin category which Marsha is trying to add onto with Syrians and Kurds. (Note here that Marsha’s bill was amended to cap the number of Special Immigrant Visas at 400 for her pet group).

Until Lee was elected, Tennessee was a sovereign state with a representative form of government. Then Lee consented to paying both the state and federal costs to resettle refugees and decreed that counties must defer to the state which he defined as himself.

Lee’s die-hard courtiers and some tone-deaf legislators insist that the Governor’s consent for refugee resettlement is merely a “disagreement” between what voters heard him say during the campaign and his plan for refugee resettlement across the state.

Actually, it’s the same decision that Democrats Phil Bredesen and Karl (Marx) Dean would make – they just wouldn’t have waited as long. These guys may have lost the election, but their policies on refugee resettlement are being put firmly in place by Lee.

(Gov) Bill #1 would be so proud of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Criminal Justice Reform In Tennessee Is All About Release Part 2

 

“We can empty our jails in the same way that some other states have done. I know we can do that.”  Gov Bill Lee

 

“Because of y’alls leadership, I think we’re going to get criminal justice reform,” he said, adding: “We can empty our jails in the same way that some other states have done. I know we can do that.”  Says Gov Bill Lee as he and the Senate’s Republicans gathered in Crossville in Oct 2019 to outline their 2020 priorities.

“It isn’t going to be easy to get that done,” he said. “We have to be creative and innovative and disruptive and challenge the way we’ve been doing things forever.”

Part of Criminal Justice “Reform” is the release of offenders to a parole or probation status. In Tennessee it is known as “community supervision” with former prisoners labeled “clients” rather than what they are..parolees and probationers. In the last 6 months criminals who should have remained in prison or jail, have been released which in turn, they have committed murders.

Michael D. Mosley  – In May of 2015, Mosley was arrested for a stabbing a man in the stomach for which he was found guilty.   In October 2018, he was charged with domestic assault after repeatedly slamming a female relatives head into a wall several times resulting in bodily injury. On December 5, 2018, he was charged with viciously punching a woman in a Walmart store “over and over again.” It appears that he was arrested for the December 2018 incident on November 5 2019 and was released on  $5,000 bond.  Despite the previous conviction for violent assault, Mosley was released after serving minimal time incarcerated. Mosley has been arrested for the stabbing deaths of Clayton Beathard, and Paul Trapeni III. Mosley was on probation at the time he stabbed and killed those 2 young men.

Michael Lee Cummins   From the news report in Sumner County Tenn. (WTVF) —” Three days after the ‘deadliest homicide event in Tennessee in at least 20 years’ new information is being released regarding the suspected killer, Michael Cummins and his probation status. On Saturday, April 27, Michael Cummins allegedly took the lives of seven people, three of which being members of his own family. Now, it has been confirmed that a probation officer was preparing an arrest warrant for Cummins the day before the homicides occurred. The report further stated

“According to District Attorney Ray Whitley, a violation of probation affidavit was filed on Monday, April 22. This affidavit outlined numerous issues with Cummins’ probation. These included missing appointments with his probation officer and not contacting with the probation office. Cummins also reportedly would not comply with the conditions of his probation which required him to receive mental health treatment.”

Again..Probation

In December law enforcement authorities were investigating a homicide in the Lakewood Park area in Manchester TN, where a 68 yr old male was found dead.  20 year old Tyler Parker, who was found in the victims car in Oklahoma, has been returned to Coffee County, where he and his female accomplice will be charged with that homicide. Parker, was wanted for violating probation.

This is just a sample of what probationers and parolees do when given the chance to remain free from their prior convictions.

Criminal justice reform is just a fancy way of calling it what is truly is, a sweeping release of convicted criminals because states do not want to continue to spend money on building facilities to house them. Another piece not often mentioned is the underlying ideology that prisons and jails are filled with minorities, which leads to the accusations that the current criminal justice system is racist.

While the fix will not be easy, appeasing community leaders by reducing bail or not setting bail at all is not the answer either. As of now, we still live under a system of laws. If you break those laws, consequences must prevail. As it is society is breaking down, and taking law abiding citizens and law enforcement officers with it. If states continue to dismantle the system, we can only expect more chaos and eventually civil unrest.

Emptying jails to prove points, and win votes is not the answer.

 

 

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Bill Lee Abandons Tennessee’s Sovereignty for His Personal Agenda on Refugee Resettlement

And the left loves him for it! They love him because he is adamant about continuing to force refugees into Tennessee communities regardless of what those locals have to say about it.

The left and the federal contractors love what’s coming out of Lee’s mouth because they can read the tea leaves….

Bill Lee is going to have the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement approve his plan for refugee resettlement in Tennessee. They understand that in the aftermath of Lee’s giving consent under the President’s Executive Order, Lee all but admitted that he was going to put the state smack right back into the federal program and retract Bredesen’s withdrawal from the program.

And Lee has pretty much said and shown that he really doesn’t care what local governments or voters have to say about that. Wow, if that’s not a “red flag” for counties to stand up and be noticed….

Bill Lee doesn’t seem to understand that Tennessee’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit prompted by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Sebelius Medicaid expansion case is about state sovereignty. It just also happens to be about the Tennessee General Assembly being THE authority under the state Constitution to appropriate taxpayer money.

The issue in the Sebelius case was whether Congress could use their spending power to force states to expand their state Medicaid programs. If states didn’t comply, Congress was going to take away all of the state’s Medicaid funds. But the Supreme Court said nope, nothing doing Congress. The Court made it clear that even though Congress could legitimately use its spending power to put conditions on the use of federal funds, it could not use its spending power to the point where it went from encouragement to coercion.

The 2012 decision by the Supreme Court coined the phrase – “The States are separate and independent sovereigns. Sometimes they have to act like it.”

And Tennessee did just that in 2014, passing a bill to prohibit Governor Haslam who was itching to expand Medicaid with his “Insure Tennessee” plan. The legislature understood that the plan would put the state budget on the hook for an ever expanding bill that would overwhelm the state budget which is the sole responsibility of the Tennessee General Assembly and that the Governor did not have the power under the state Constitution to commit to that expenditure – that’s the job of the legislature.

So the Tennessee General Assembly acted to preserve their own power of the purse and tied the Governor’s hands.

Fast forward a few years and some really smart lawyers at the Thomas More Law Center (unlike Tennessee’s Attorney General), understood that the principle in the Sebelius case applied in the same way to the federal refugee resettlement program as it is implemented at the state level. They understood that it was even worse in a state like Tennessee which had withdrawn from the program but was still being forced to pony up state money to cover the transferred costs for the refugee program. 

So when Govenror Lee’s minions inside and outside of his office talk about all that federal money that would flow into the state with the arrival of new refugees? Maybe ask about all that other money that the state has and will continue to shell out just because Congress decided it wasn’t going to spend more of its/our money on the program they created.

Sort of sounds like a double whammy for Tennessee taxpayers.

But it’s actually worse than that.

While Bill Lee is forcing Tennessee taxpayers to live out his personal agenda and uses the state government for what the Bible says is an individual’s mandate, he will kill off the Tennessee lawsuit, the entire premise of which was based on the sovereign status of both the state and the legislature.

He may think the deal is worth it, but regular ole’ deplorables understand that governors come and go, but deplorables stay put and will defend their ground even if he won’t.